ESB: 1450 1028 or 1056

yes, I know, not traditional, not going for traditional.

all this recent talk of imperial stouts has me wanting to make one again this spring for next holiday season.  my yeast choices are:

Denny’s 50 1450
London Ale 1028
Chico 1056

I plan to make an ESB to grow enough yeast for the stout.  has anyone made an ESB with any of these yeasts and would you do it again.  surprisingly the London ale yeast isn’t really recommended for ESB on wyeast’s website.

That’s because “London Ale” is actually the old Worthington White Shield yeast from Burton.  Wyeast always has seemed to try to throw you off the scent of their sources.  But it makes a good strong dark beer.  It’s the house yeast at Great Lakes and I like their porters and stouts.

Mines going to be 1450 today, though I dumped a cake of 1028 last night. Time will tell if I made the right decision. I think I did

Well you were thinking NCOR all along right? You had to go 1450!  And I bet you’ll want to try more iterations of this…by the way, you’re rolling along faster than I imagined!

Actually, I brew a big stout every year for a coworker who takes it to elk camp with other coworkers. The NC Old Rasputin just got me thinking. I’m not trying to remotely clone it, its too hoppy for my tastes. But I like the fermentation character. I’m shooting for more of a huge Tropical Stout if that makes sense, where OR seems more like an Imperial American Stout to me.

^^^^
Elk camp.  Imperial stout, shotguns…what could possibly go wrong?

It’s archery, and they are too old to get drunk.

I second that!

I did not mean to impugn the gentlemen’s reputations!  Just struck me funny.

Screw em, they’re not here. Lol

Quite a few years ago I lived in a small town in Nevada. One of the first businesses that you saw as you entered town was a combination liquor store/gun shop.

Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.  The government thinks they go well together…

1028 works just fine for an esb. It will be rather clean compared to other U.K. varieties, but you won’t be disappointed with the results. I’ve always thought it was the brightest of the bunch.

1028 would be a very good choice.  Lately, I’ve been using 1272 a lot, (which is actually Bry97, the original Newark Ballantine Ale strain) and really like it.  I’ve had tremendous luck with it through many generations (more than 12+).
It flocs like a champ, and is relatively clean, with just enough character. It, along with my “house strain” which I’ve used regularly since the mid 1980s, are my two favorites. 
Highly recommended!

Definitely 1450. I’ve used it on some British inspired bet brewed with American ingredient type beers to great effect.

I’m not buying 1056 anymore. Chico sucks. (Hyperbole aside, it’s too clean for most of what I brew.)

Coincidentally, I received this email this AM…

Hi Denny & Drew,

I did an informal test recently on yeast strains.  I brewed the same mild 3 times.  The only difference in all of these was the yeast strains used.  I picked 3 yeasts(WYEAST 1275 Thames Valley, WYEAST 1968 London ESB and WYEAST 1450 Denny’s Favorite 50) pitched and fermented.  The tasters did not know they were being used as guinea pigs.  I asked each of the 12 people(of varying tasting experience) 3 questions:  Which beer do you like the best? Why? Was there anything off-putting about the 2 you didn’t pick?

Here are the results by strain:

1275 : 4 Favorite votes - Described by those 4: It is the smoothest, the Chocolatey taste is not harsh - like a milk chocolate more than dark chocolate.
    1968: 2 Favorite votes - Described by the 2: Like the slight sweetness, the grain is more prevelant
    1450: 6 favorite votes - Described by the 6: Most balanced, dryer than the others but still feels thick on the palate, I feel like I could taste the hops and the grain together more than the other 2.

No one has any off-putting information on the other 2 Milds and said they liked all of them.  Most said that picking between the 3 was like splitting hairs but that the 1450 stood out the most(this was even in the ones that did not pick it as a favorite.)

Ha! Go figure, professor recommends a yeast that resembles the one from Ballantine, and Denny recommends dennys favorite. This post could have been written 10 years ago on the good ol’ northern brewer forums and it would have turned out exactly the same. [emoji846]

its going to come down to a coinflip for me, I think.

I am splitting a 10gal batch of old ale later this year, using my BOS recipe, and that uses 1028.  so part of me thinks, well youre using 1028 there, why not use 1450 on the ESB/RIS run.

thanks for those that shared their experiences - especially TheProfessor - I think its been ages since I’ve seen him post!